Free The Flag Movement and Logo

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

Did you know that the Aboriginal Flag is copyrighted?

Well it is, and we have been served a 'Cease and Desist' notice from WAM Clothing for celebrating the Aboriginal Flag on our 'Clothing the Gap' products we were given 3 working days to sell all our flag stock. Otherwise, we faced legal action.

Clothing the Gap is an Aboriginal owned and led fashion label where 100% of profits support health promotion activities in the Aboriginal Community.

We created the Free The Flag logo as a representative art piece and logo to raise awareness of the Free the Flag movement. Sales of our Free The Flag products help us to continue to raise awareness of the issue and support our campaign.

Photo: Laura Thompson, Sarah Sheridan and Lena Charles.

As the name suggests, the Free the Flag movement aims to:

Free the Aboriginal [-0-] flag from its current licensing agreements and see Aboriginal people have equal rights and access to their flag. We want the Aboriginal flag to be treated like every other recognised national flag in the world. We are the only race in the world, that has to pledge our allegiance to flag that is a piece of private property.

We want to celebrate the Aboriginal flag without asking for permission. We want free consent.

We want to see more Black flags in the world. The current licensing agreements and copyright on the Aboriginal flag is distressing for the community. People don't feel the same sense of pride and love for the flag and many are just not prepared to ask for permission to use it and pay royalties. Flags unite people and we are afraid that we are going to notice an absence of the Aboriginal flag now.

We want the consumer to have freedom of choice of whom they purchase their flag products. The exclusive worldwide licensee holder for Aboriginal Flag on clothing is WAM Clothing. One of the directors of WAM (Ben Wooster) was also the sole director of Birubi Arts which is in liquidation and fined $2.3 for selling fake Indigenous art. Judge Perry said "Birubi is currently in liquidation and is unlikely to be able to pay the fine". Meanwhile, Ben Wooster continues to profit of Aboriginal culture and identity.

We don't want to pay more for all our [-0-] merchandise. You only have to head to the Flag World website to see that the Aboriginal Flags cost more, it's a national disgrace!

Free The Flag logo replaces Aboriginal Flag until it's free!

Want to help! Click here for 5 ways you can get behind the Free The Flag movement.

Walkabout Barber Enterprises merchandise supplier, Team Spirit Sports was served with a Cease and Desist from WAM Clothing for breaching the exclusive licensee agreement between WAM Clothing & Mr Harold Thomas (the owner of the copyright for the Aboriginal Flag) for the use of the Aboriginal flag on their United Tribes Autism Awareness jersey for the 2019 NSW Aboriginal Knockout.

A spokes person for Walkabout Barber said "the Aboriginal flag, a symbol of hope, survival and connection for Aboriginal people dating back to the early 70’s is being held ransom by a company who has never marched for, bled for, or draped the coffins of their loved ones with its colours, ever in their lives!"

The United Tribes Autism Awareness team was created to promote the early detection of Autism in youth across the country, and to give parents and families the ability to feel proud and to be heard in a world where children with disabilities are often silenced.

Walkabout Barber Enterprises was the first Aboriginal business to replace the Aboriginal flag with the Free The Flag logo. Since then, we have made the Free The Flag logo publicly available for download and other Indigenous sports teams, organisations and community groups have jumped on board and are supporting the Free The Flag movement.

Photo: United Tribes Autism Awareness team uniform

We give permission to the local and wider community to use the digital file with the below conditions.

Guidelines for Free the Flag logo digital file

The aims of the use of the Free the Flag logo are as follows:

To further the movement to Free the Flag and raise awareness;

To enable Community to show their cultural identity and support until the Aboriginal Flag is free and

To enable people to show support and allegiance to Free The Flag movement.

The conditions for use of the Free The Flag logo are as follows:

The Free The Flag logo cannot be used alone on clothing products but must be used as part of and included in an existing artwork and/or design;

The Free The Flag logo cannot be used as part of racist or discriminatory art or merchandise.

How to use the Free The Flag logo:

On Merchandise

For merchandise you do not need to include Clothing The Gap acknowledgment, use option 1 or 2.

Option 1: Free The Flag logo for merchandise on a lighter background.

Option 2: Free The Flag logo for merchandise on a darker background.

On Print and Digital Media

For print and digital media posts please use options 3 or 4 and acknowledge @clothingthegap as the creator of the logo.

Option 3: Free The Flag logo for print and digital media on a lighter background.

Option 4: Free The Flag logo for print and digital media on a darker background.